In fast food operations, the inventory function as to beverages is often accomplished by means of counting the cups. Thus, it is necessary on a daily basis, to count the number of cups remaining so as to determine the number of cups of beverage sold. Prior to the invention, this entailed a great deal of wasted man hours in removing the cups from the dispensing tubes for the purpose of counting them, and then putting the cups back into the cup dispensing tubes for use the next business day. The present invention completely eleminates this wasted effort by providing a device of the character described to count the cups while they are in the cup dispensing tube.
The term "cup dispensing tube" as used in the specification and claims herein shall be understood to mean that sort of device, which is typically fixed to the wall, is of elongated tubular shape, has a predetermined length, and has a spring means mounted in the upper end between the closed off upper end and the top of the column of cups in the tube. Means are provided at the lower end of the tube to allow the food sellers to rapidly peel off and pull out one cup at a time from the bottom open end of the dispenser.